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From scripture to scripture, the bulk of following Jesus as Savior rests on believing. It is founded on things contrary to logic, human reasoning or tangible transferable evidence.For we walk by faith, not by sight 2 Corinthians 5:7.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved Romans 10:9

But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that must cometh to God must believe that He is (exists), and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him Hebrews 11:6.

Only few had the luxury of tangible evidence, those who closely walked in and out with him while he walked the shores of earth. There were those who were alive in his time who still were not privy to most of what we now read and hear. But those that were with him had this to say; specifically John, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;…That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,…” 1 John 1:1-3

The rest of us who were not privy to such intimate existence of our savior have word of mouth of others and the records (from the Bible) and our supernatural experiences to cling to. To seek logical reasoning as a basis of faith will always lead into more confusion. Our whole followership of Christ makes no sense; it is not supposed to make sense naturally. So why try to logically establish what you identified with apart from logic?

I recently read a story of how anthropologists found the remains of what without much thought must be that of a giant going by the size. Whoever posted it was quick to say that was another evidence that God is Supreme and that the Bible is true, because that must have been Goliath’s remains. I didn’t quite agree with that. It may be proof that Giants existed, it may even be proven to be Goliath, but that isn’t why the Bible is true. Science and research can allude to the elements of our faith when certain discoveries are made, but the absence of evidence or substantial proof should never wary or disturb whoever has truly believed on Christ as they should. As if I knew how shallow the Goliath’s claim was already, I proceeded to the comments section of the post and without surprise found a lot of people asking legitimate questions. Their query was ‘didn’t David cut off goliath’s head with his spear, how come the remains found wasn’t headless?’ In what may have been an innocent attempt at convincing others of the existence of God and the reality of the biblical accounts, the poster succeeded in creating more debate. This is what happens when we try to prove God’s existence on His behalf.

While I was in Junior secondary school, in the first year of my exposure to the Internet, I came across a very touching story; it was that of a woman who was buried alive along with her newborn and they were exhumed about 2 weeks later, still alive. According to the story, someone heard their cry or suspected what had happened and rescued them. They were found hale and hearty and well fed and it was reported that an angel or was it Jesus had been feeding them in the ground. Going by the reputation of Jesus, the Christ in whom I believe without any iota of doubt, this is well within the range of what he can do. What isn’t? But I do not quite believe the story. In the decade that followed that first encounter with the story, I came across same story on different platforms and from different people with varying details. One time the event was said to have happened in Egypt, another time it was Kenya, in fact, same story was floated in favor of another religion with the identity of the savior changed of course. These stories hold no water as far as the reality of our faith is concerned.

Artefacts don’t prove God’s existence nor does our inability to find them prove His inexistence. Those things are because He is!

Another quite intriguing series is that of those who have toured either heaven or hell. I do not know if their accounts are true or false, and I really do not care to find out every time I see such. My reasons are not far-fetched. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus which Jesus relayed to the Pharisees Luke 16: 20-31; the rich man was said to have made a request that someone from the dead be sent to warn his brothers, his request was denied because the living already had enough witnesses and instructions as to what to expect or prepare for in the world beyond. In fact, if someone was to be sent to them, some would still not believe. Abraham responded to the rich man that his brothers had the law and the prophets, they didn’t even have the gospel and epistles and revelation yet! How about now that we have the full component? I wonder if God has changed His mind and has decided to start sending us messages from those in the great beyond. Believe me, I have never been there nor do I suggest that the accounts of those who have gone and come back are false, but I can only tell of what I know and I’m sure of. Haven’t you heard or read how in the scriptures we are told that the heavens and the earth shall vanish and be no more? Isaiah 51:6; Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Hebrews 1:11-12; 2 Peter 3:10-13. And furthermore we are told of the emergence of a new heaven and earth, Revelation 21:1 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea”

Going all out on that as a matter of fact, if their accounts are true, it still doesn’t change the reality of our faith, and that whatever anyone has seen now will be dissolved and done away with. Only the sure word of God and God himself will last forever. We have the word and all we need for godliness already. I need no other argument, no other plea, it is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me, and you. If you respond to such tales from the great beyond, it would mostly be out of fear, not true belief. And it will mostly last long enough as your memory retains the information.

What we all really need is an experience, a supernatural one that no one, not even ourselves can take away from us. I particularly love the account in John 9. It is that of the man born blind, who now an adult met with Jesus and regained his sight. The Pharisees were furious and tried all they could to tag Jesus as a sinner. They went as far as asking the parents if indeed the man was the same son they had who was born blind. The parents out of fear replied that he is of age and can speak for himself. The previously blind man couldn’t deny what had happened nor could it be taken away from him. He wasn’t knowledgeable about the person of Jesus, but his response was clear; all he knew was that he was blind and he regained his sight when he met with this Jesus.

As simple as it is and sounds, simply believing Jesus as savior and consequently receiving pardon and full absolution of sins has been one of the most difficult things to do for many till date. It doesn’t sound logical and it never will, but if you have found another way to be in right standing with God without any charge against you despite all you have done, then feel free to ignore this simple call to freedom.

I want to wish you, reader, and everyone else, such an experience that supercedes any knowledge or understanding.

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In the first part of this write-up (read here), I have given reasons and scriptural backings to emphasize that authority and dominion on earth rests with man. All authority and power belongs to God, and He has graciously called us men as partners to wield this authority while here on earth. It is one thing to have power and authority, another to be aware of it (Part 1 dealt with this) and yet another thing to know how to use or enforce such powers (let’s deal with this right now).

Word, Prayer, Fellowship

There’s nothing we have that we did not receive (1 Corinthians 4:7), including authority and power. It will be foolhardy to disconnect from a power source. Jesus Christ, God who became man did not begin his power-packed mission on earth until He had exercised himself by fellowshipping with the Father. He fasted, prayed, studied, and retreated (Matthew 4:1-2). While His ministry went on, he did not rely on his pre-ministry spiritual exercise but rather he continued daily in fellowship with the Father – rising up a great deal before dawn, he withdrew himself and prayed.

Matt 14:23 KJV And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone

Luke 6:12 KJV And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

Mark 1:35 KJV And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

Put it to use

My father has a favourite saying as it concerns the Holy Spirit, “the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for show, it is power for service”. Jesus did not just possess authority and power, he used it. He didn’t organise a show or circus or an exhibition; rather he went about everywhere doing good – healing the sick, raising the dead, chasing out demons. Same as what the Apostles and early Christians did. You don’t receive authority and power just to hang it on a wall like a plaque or a medal, use it!

Acts 10:38 NLT And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Speak

There is power in the tongue, with it we will set the kingdom of darkness to flee. In creating the heavens and the earth, God spoke and things came to be (Genesis 1). God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy unto dry bones and they came to life when he did (Ezekiel 37); Jesus commanded the storm to cease and it obeyed (Mark 4:39), also told the devil to leave Him (who born the devil well make him no obey?)

Matt 4:10-11 NCV 10 Jesus said to the devil, “Go away from me, Satan! It is written in the Scriptures, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’11 So the devil left Jesus, and angels came and took care of him.

Rev 12:11 KJV And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Ps 149:6-9 KJV 6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; 7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; 8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; 9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.

Pray in the Spirit

Be obedient to God, let Him teach and guide you per time. You have to rely on the Holy Spirit’s leading. Pray in the Spirit always. There will be times and battles our earthly frame cannot fathom or comprehend or even become aware of, but the Spirit prompts and helps us to pray even about things we don’t know details of. We win more battles without knowing it when we pray in the Spirit. When we pray in the Spirit, we are being pro-active, not reactive. Don’t let things happen to you first before you get down to praying to have it corrected. You can with the Holy Spirit’s help go ahead to fix things such that they go on in a proper way.

Purge yourself of all filthiness

There’s an hedge around you friend and believer, one should never break lest you let the devil in. Sin grants the devil access into our lives to mess with us, to torment us, to accuse and to distract. While God has indeed promised and granted us forgiveness of sins and for sins, going on further to sin hinders us from impacting maximally and functioning as we should. We will have to deal with guilt, sometimes, consequences of whatever sin committed, distractions from observers or followers. It is no wonder then that the scriptures classifies sin along with ‘weights’ as things that can slow us down and hinder us. Ever tried running with baggage? Sure it’s not an easy task, travel light!

Heb 12:1 KJV Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

2 Tim 2:4 KJVNo man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

1 Cor 10:13 KJV There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

If we’d use God’s map for our lives mostly, we’ll hardly miss road but God provides an escape route with every temptation, stop waiting for the elevator. Run my dear, run!

You have the power, use it, get better at using it, keep exercising yourself spiritually unto godliness, drop excess luggage and remember not to pick up the unnecessaries. Focus!